John Kerry provided a signed letter of support to an extremely radical group of leftists and anti-Israel activists who were organizing a march on Gaza in 2009, revales Maariv's Ben-Dror Yemini. Members of the group eventually wound up on the 2010 Gaza flotilla that included the Mavi Marmara, on whose deck a bloody confrontation between Turkish terrorists and the IDF ended with 9 dead terrorists.Here is the letter where John Kerry refers to these anti-Israel agitators as "humanitarian" :
Yemini says that the Gaza Freedom March organizers included Ali Abunima and Omar Barghouti, leaders of the Israel boycott campaign, musician Roger Waters, and members of Code Pink, which he describes as a radical feminist anti-Israeli group. One of the Code Pink activists was Jody Evans, who had worked as a fundraiser in Barack Obama's 2008 presidential campaign.
As they prepared to begin their journey to Gaza, members of the radical group tried to get support from leading US officials. One official who agreed to do this was then-Senator Kerry, who served as the chairman of the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee at the time.
In the letter he provided, Kerry expresses his “strong support” for the “humanitarian” delegation and asks that “every courtesy” be given them. Yemini adds that Abunima and Evans showed the letter to Egyptian officials, who decided to prevent them from going on to Gaza anyway. Evans and fellow Code Pink activists eventually boarded the Free Gaza Flotilla.
Kerry should have known better, opines Yemini, after members of Code Pink met with Iran's Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in 2008. He asks, “How is it that a senior senator gave legitimacy to a group that was characterized by support for Hamas, support for Ahmadinejad, and deep hostility toward Israel and the US?”
Code Pink, in its announcement asking for support for the Gaza Freedom March, said that the US was complicit in Israel's "crimes."
The anti-Israel agitators did not make it to Gaza. Egypt wouldn't let them go, despite Kerry's letter. They pretended they were martyrs themselves, some starting a hunger strike. Adam Shapiro (of Mondoweiss) noticed some nascent anti-Egypt protests in Cairo and had the audacity to believe that his group was responsible for that. Anti-Zionist Hedy Epstein, always trotted out because she is a pseudo-"Holocaust survivor," said "We're in a desperate situation here" - because her suitcase of crayons and paper would not make it into Gaza. The entire trip was an exercise in narcissism and slamming Israel, not about helping a single human being.
Yet John Kerry, in his position as chairman of the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee, writing about this group of self-centered haters, said that "my staff has met with members of the group, and is impressed with their ability, dedication and commitment to the peace process."
(ht Ilya)
UPDATE: I didn't realize that this was reported back in 2010. Of course, at that time Kerry wasn't the Secretary of State. (h/t Bob K)
UPDATE 2: The State Department says that the implication here is wrong.
The letter from Sen. Kerry regarding the humanitarian mission in Israel and the Palestinian territories was a form letter that was auto-penned, a standard constituent mail that congressional members send out as common practice. The Massachusetts Senate office receives hundreds of requests each year for letters like this for constituents traveling to other countries.(h/t Bob K)
Sen. Kerry never saw it, nor did senior staff see it. It was put together by his Boston office and would also not have involved senior staff members on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Moreover, the text of the letter has nothing to do with the flotilla incident or even Gaza.
It focuses purely on a humanitarian mission in Israel and the Palestinian territories in support of the peace process. Kerry’s staff would have provided the letter so that Massachusetts residents could receive meetings while they were in Israel and the Palestinian territories. That is all. And if it was used for anything else it was under false pretenses.
The two flotilla participants who the article says used the letter are both non-residents of Massachusetts. The letter specifically alludes to a Massachusetts delegation. Ali Abunimah lives in Chicago, Jodie Evans lives in California. None of these people had contact with Sen. Kerry’s office and if these people were carrying the letter, it was under false pretenses that are not the responsibility of Kerry’s senate office.